While it may not have movies like Angry Birds, or TV commercials like Candy Crush, Fruit Ninja is still one of the most popular early mobile games.  You might’ve even had it for free pre-installed on your first smart phone!  I think it was one of the first mobile games I saw at PAX, and I even reviewed an educational game based on the franchise a few years ago!  I’ve even seen versions of this game in arcades!  And now it’s finally getting a sequel! (reviewed on iPad here)

Gameplay is pretty much like the first game.  Use your finger to swipe at the touch screen to cut flying fruit in half, and do this a bunch to get a high score.  The first thing you’ll do is create a ninja character for others to see in multiplayer modes.  You don’t get much to start, but you can unlock and buy characters and outfits as you play.

The main mode you’ll play will probably be Arcade Mode.  Here you have a limited time to slash as much fruit as possible.  Avoid slashing bombs because they can break your combo streak, subtract some points, and eliminate any uncut fruit on screen.  You do want to slash special striped fruit, though, because they can temporarily slow down fruit and other things.  You can also unlock power-ups that you can equip and activate at any time.  These include a vortex to suck in fruit to one spot, one that makes fruit really big, or a wave to send a bunch of fruit on the screen.  You’ll want to really use these powers as much as possible, because it can really increase your score.

There are also mini-games that you can play by using special tickets.  These including slicing fruit and avoiding bombs in grids, sliding down chutes, and more.  You can also try Zen mode, where it’s just you slicing fruit without having to worry about bombs.  Classic plays like the original Fruit Ninja where you must avoid bombs entirely or it’s Game Over.  Fruitar Hero is like a music rhythm game where you must swipe fruit in certain directions as it passes a line.  Kind of like Dance Dance Revolution.    There are also multiplayer modes as well where you go against another person online.  You must slash the most fruit, but only the ones highlighted in your color.  It can be kind of hard to tell which is yours sometimes, though.

Other places you can visit include a shop where you can purchase items and upgrades with the in-game currency, or buy things with real money, too.  The armory is where you can edit your character, equip different blades that have new swiping animations, as well as select and upgrade power-ups and other things.  Last is a garden where you can plant seeds and wait a while for them to grow into fruit which you can then harvest for more rewards and goodies.

I do like the idea of this simple time waster, but at the same time, it didn’t have enough staying power to keep me interested.  Plus, it feels less like a sequel and more of an update to match current buying practices of today’s modern mobile titles.  Progress to unlock things is very slow and they really want you to buy that season pass!  Plus the game froze up on me a few times and the text is too small to read, even on the iPad!  I can’t imagine how people can read it on a phone!  But if you liked the original game, you may want to check this one out as well.  Can’t hurt, since it’s free.

Kid Factor:

Nothing violent or objectionable here.  Unless you just object to slicing fruit in half and seeing juice splatter on the screen.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, and there are interesting fruit facts after every game, so it’s kind of educational, too.  Parental supervision is highly recommended for the in-game ads and purchases, though.

Tags: Game Reviews